Oncogenes are genes that can cause cancer. Carcinogenesis can occur by a wide variety of mechanisms, including infection of cells by viruses containing oncogenes, activation of protooncogenes in the host genome, and mutations of protooncogenes and tumor suppressor genes.
There are a number of viruses known to be involved in human cancer as well as in animal cancer. Of particular interest here are viruses that do not contain oncogenes themselves; these are slow-transforming retroviruses. They induce tumors by integrating into the host genome and affecting neighboring protooncogenes in a variety of ways, including promoter insertion, enhancer insertion, and/or truncation of a protooncogene or tumor suppressor gene. The analysis of sequences at or near the insertion sites led to the identification of a number of new protooncogenes.
With respect to lymphoma and leukemia, murine leukemia retrovirus (MuLV), such as SL3-3 or Akv, is a potent inducer of tumors when inoculated into susceptible newborn mice, or when carried in the germline. A number of sequences have been identified as relevant in the induction of lymphoma and leukemia by analyzing the insertion sites; see Sorensen et al., J. of Virology 74:2161 (2000); Hansen et al., Genome Res. 10(2):237-43 (2000); Sorensen et al., J. Virology 70:4063 (1996); Sorensen et al. J. Virology 67:7118 (1993); Joosten et al., Virology 268:308 (2000); and Li et al., Nature Genetics 23:348 (1999); all of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide sequences involved in cancer and in particular in oncogenesis.